Virtual Console (GBA) Lineup for Wii U Revealed for April

Nintendo have gone ahead and unveiled the full lineup of Virtual Console games (mostly GBA) for the 3DS and Wii U for the month of April 2014, and it seems like they've finally learned not to hold back, and go all in.

Better late than never, Nintendo.

Here's the full lineup:

April 3:

Advance Wars (Wii U, $7.99): Command air, ground and naval forces in strategic turn-based battles to drive back the vibrant armies of several scheming generals. Order troops carefully, then watch as tanks obliterate enemies and jets go head-to-head in midair dogfights. Can you fend off an army of elite strategists? It's your move.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Wii U, $7.99): Leap and level up as Mario and Luigi simultaneously in their first role-playing adventure as a team of Bros. When an evil witch replaces Princess Peach's voice with explosives, the Bros. must venture beyond the Mushroom Kingdom to save her. Control each bro separately or together, then team up to unleash Bros. Attacks on Fawful's fan-favorite face.

Metroid Fusion (Wii U, $7.99): Your mission: Eradicate the X parasites and the mutants they infect. Power up with the Fusion Suit to annihilate your enemies in this action-packed side-scroller set on an isolated research station. Along the way, you'll find game-changing items like the Space Jump as you lose yourself in the blissful solitude of this eerily engrossing adventure.

April 10:

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (Wii U, $6.99): When the going gets tough, Kirby gets cloning. Call in colorful clone reinforcements to aid Kirby in blasting, bashing and smashing his foes. With a new menace at his side, Dark Meta Knight is corrupting the sprawling, mazelike Mirror Kingdom. Join the famous pink puffball on an adventure to save the land in this classic platformer.

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (Wii U, $6.99): Get ready for video games done Wario-style. In the game that started the WarioWare, Inc. empire, Wario has a plan to get rich quick. Skate, jump, scare and shoot your way through more than 200 frantic, rapid-fire microgames of every type, from retro classics to sports games to sci-fi shooters that anyone can pick up and play.

April 17

Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, $4.99): Jump, swim and fly through one of the greatest and most beloved Super Mario Bros. games of all time. In this timeless NES classic, you'll battle through over 70 baddie-infested courses and face off against the infamous Koopalings. Bowser and the Koopalings are causing chaos yet again, but this time, they're going beyond the Mushroom Kingdom and into seven neighboring worlds. Lucky for the brothers, they have more power-ups than ever before. Fly above the action with the Super Leaf, swim faster as Frog Mario or turn into stone and drop onto enemies as Tanooki Mario. You can even choose your path on the map to reach the end of the World. There, you'll have to pass massive Airships filled with cannons and fire traps to reach a showdown with one of the Koopalings.

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (Wii U, $6.99): Get your adrenaline pumping and race plasma-powered machines till your knuckles turn white. Boost down some of the most dangerous tracks in the universe and strive for victory at all costs, even if it means ramming your opponents off the road. Revel in your accomplishments and climb the Grand Prix standings to unlock tracks and vehicles.

Golden Sun (Wii U, $7.99): Marvel at your own awesome power while protecting the world as it crumbles around you. Wield mighty weapons and use your mind to bend reality with magical Psynergy in the premiere installment of this epic RPG series. To aid you on your quest, seek out the omnipotent creatures known as Djinn - but beware: You must defeat them to harness their power.

April 24

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (Wii U, $7.99): Yoshi is back, baby, and he's ready to romp through a crayon-colored world where enemies are everywhere. Prepare to flutter jump and toss eggs to protect young Mario from the evil Magikoopa, Kamek. To save the day, Yoshi and his pals will have to morph into vehicles and even EAT their enemies to turn them into eggs. Umm ... yum?

Now if Nintendo and EA* can get along again, I'd like to see the portable versions of The Sims: Bustin' Out and Urbz (although I have the latter on my DS) on there.

*- Yes, I did say EA was on my s***list, and they still are, but considering the timeframe these released long before 2013, I can't get too mad at this as long as they don't f*** it up.

These won't be on the 3DS, though. Just the Wii U. Well, I guess SMB3 will be on the 3DS.

These are all Wii U games, yo.

Yes, Nintendo decided to put its portable Virtual Console on a home console instead of its handheld. No, don't ask me why, I can't understand anything this company does.

I just want Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the GBA, that game was amazing.

1. Too dear.

2. Why are 3DS and WiiU getting seperate games? Why isn't there just a unified VC?

I don't understand the first point, and as for 2., because Nintendo :p

I've heard that, like the first two games on GBC, the GBA version sticks better to the books than the other versions (I'm most familiar with the GameCube version).

I already have most of those GBA games on my 3DS due to the Ambassador Program. It's really weird that Nintendo isn't selling them on the 3DS.

I don't get why they can't just dump the entire current Wii VC onto the Wii U.

Are we seriously waiting for a trickling down of all the same stupid games all over again? Super Mario Bros. 3? Are you kidding me?

Playstations' unifide system is a god send. You can buy FFVI and play it on your psp..vita..or ps3. Your choice. One purchase.

Meanwhile.....NINTENDO....

I'd rather see Game Cube games.

Dear, meaning expensive. Bout as expected I suppose, same price as SNES games were on Wii.

Wait, am I reading that Correctly? Is that the Gameboy Advance Version of Super Mario Bros. 3 coming to WiiU and 3DS? or is that just the NES version?

@locopathoGolden Sun Used is $11.99 on Amazon. The Prices are fine. What are people expecting? $1? $.25? This a gaming Company not a Garage sale. I would join in with the "Prices are too high" band wagon if they were all $10-$15 a pop, but they're just $8 max.

They did. You just have to go to the Wii menu to access the VC store.

WHY AREN'T THESE ON THE 3DS?

@nintendoboy16: It was also a darn good JRPG. @Bread_or_Decide: Right? Maybe by next generation, Nintendo will have some concept of an ecosystem. @Heil68: Because of the way Nintendod esigned their new controllers, Gamecube games are almost an impossibility :( @locopatho: Ah, I see. $8 for some old games that i never got to play (such as Superstar Saga), or to revisit some classics (such as Advance Wars and Goiden Sun) sounds like a good deal to me =) @PurpleMan5000: 3DS is too weak to emulate GBA games

Well, considering Nintendo won't bother with the arcade version of Donkey Kong, I think it's the NES version.

In a world where Steam sales mean you get modern AAA blockbusters for 3 - 5 euros, 8 euros for a decade old handheld game sounds silly expensive to me.

Irrelevant either way, I'm not buying any digital content on Nintendo til they get their account system sorted, to Xbox 360 ~2005 levels at least.

NES version of SMB3

1. So much bull crap considering we can play a couple of Gamecube games already with the current Set Up of Controllers the WiiU gives us. Nintendo just doesn't want to spend the time or money making emulation software that College Students can make in their free time.

2. More Bull Crap because I can play 10 of them already.

You'll be waiting for 10 years. Then again you're probably just not that interested in them in the first place.

Ah, way to get my hopes up Ninty.

You can't play any Gamecube game which requires analog triggers.

Which is like, half of the good ones, plus Super Mario Sunshine.

GBA games are not being emulated on the 3DS, they are being run natively on the DS hardware. This is why you cannot access any of the 3DS OS features while playing a GBA game. Nintendo won't sell 3DS software that won't meet certain standards (such as support for suspending game, certain 3DS OS features running in the background, sleep mode, and so on), and GBA games running natively on the 3DS hardware don't meet those standards. The only way for them to meet those standards would be emulation, which the 3DS is too weak to do.

@Bread_or_Decide: ewwwwwww FFVI on ps3/vita? That is the second worst port you can get of the game (1st being the ios ruin-make). Those load times ruin the flow of the game. If you're to get it, get the superior GBA version or the original/VC SNES version. That was a Bad example you used, bread. replace it with crash bandicoot or something. :P

@locopatho: Thankfully, Nintendo has made some strides towards an account system. Hopefully soon.

What are your thoughts on the prices on the PSN Classics store?

Hey, they're still acknowledging that F-Zero even exists still. :P

3DS is too weak to emulate GBA properly.

Where the hell is Minish Cap, Nintendo!?

I am very interested in them. Just because I don't bend over and accept their bullshit like a good little fanboy means I hate their games right? **** off.

I'll continue playing them on PC, until I can buy them legit with no risk of losing them if my hardware dies, on a proper unifed account like Sony provide.

On your 3DS

My guess is it'll be released in May. Now if only they could do something about the Pokemon and Final Fantasy Advance games.

Nintendo is really really slow to release stuff on their eShop, it's depressing. I almost wish I didn't read this... almost, good to see Metroid Fusion on the list though, never played that.

@charizard1605: yeah, I have FFV and FFVI on my vita and They are terrible compared to the GBA advance versions. In fact the Final Fantasy games 1,2,5,6 are all severely outdated on the ps store. Only god knows why Square didn't release the Superior Final Fantasy 1 & 2 Anniversary remakes. Instead they released the ports of the ps version. Smh that company needs to get their s*** together. And to fix V and VI, they can release it on Wii U. but that's highly doubtful because if it makes sense, SE won't do it.

I think the games would still work half as great even without the Analog Triggers for Gamecube games. pretty sure there's someone out there that has played a Gamecube game using the Wii Classic Controller on Dolphin on their PCs and it bothered them none.

GBA games from what I've played on my current 3DS are JUST FREAKIN' FINE on the system. Nintendo just needs to freakin' suck it up and just put the dang games on the system. What you're telling me is that Nintendo just has TOO HIGH OF STANDARDS for that stuff, and even then they're UNDER PERFORMING. The Wii Virtual Console Emulation Software whatever you call it? It's garbage. It's not great. It's terrible. You might as well just call it PLAY OLD GAMES ON Wii, which they did and that was fine. The Save State Features didn't freakin' come till 3DS and WiiU came about, and you know what? IT'S STILL BAD because you can only save ONE STATE. ONE!!!! How about changing the Speed? Nope. Resolution? No you get Letterbox or NOTHING. Nintendo should just tell people "sorry this is the best we can do." I mean they do it anyway. I can't access my features of the 3DS while played Metroid Fusion but you know what? Who cares? I'm playing Metroid Fusion on my Gosh Darn 3DS. I'll wait for Next gen to get my awesome Save State bull crap. I did with Wii. Why not do the same with 3DS?

Standards bull crap.

The 3DS doesn't emulate DS, it is a DS- it has all the DS hardware in it, the DS hardware has all the GBA hardware in it, so GBA games are run natively on their own hardware which is embedded in the DS hardware which is embedded in the 3DS hardware.

If that made any sense.

Interesting that 5 of the 8 GBA games were already given to 3DS Ambassadors. Really, the 3DS is one of only two consoles (the other being the PS3) I can think of where being an early adopter actually turned out to be an advantage.

Well excuse me for accusing you of not being interested in games that you very well interested in.

Kind of Funny that you would much rather get Rammed in the Behind by Sony with everything they got with PS+ and They're "Hardcore" Account base service that's just as likely to get shut down like the rest of the gaming industry than paying $8 to play a GBA game.

Not enough to win me back, but it's a start.

all awesome games - I own 'em all lol. still might rebuy warioware: micro megagames as it's my favorite and I'd love to play it on a Wii U controller. I wonder if they'd be able to pull off warioware: twisted with some kind of motion attachment. that'd be hella awesome.

God damn it, next month looks great. I never played Golden Sun or Advance Wars, so I'll be digging into those.

@Desmonic: That looks AMAZING. Time to get Lost World I guess!

The ambassador program comes to a wiiu near you. Nintendo is horrible at pricing their old games. I'd rather make my own back ups. Much better in the long run.

@charizard1605: Really? Why so?

CPU bottleneck prevents full speed emulation.

@charizard1605: But the Ambassador games work fine, don't they?